Minor Key Signatures: Learn Which Sharps & Flats Go With Each Key

There are two main groups of key signatures that you really need to know in (Western) music. Major key signatures and minor key signatures. If you know one, it's pretty easy to figure out the other because they are related.

So here you'll find a list of minor key signatures and which sharps or flats belong in each one.

The Relationship Between Major & Minor Keys

Every major key has a relative minor key that shares the exact same key signature. This means if you already know your major key signatures, you're halfway to understanding minor keys!

There are two main groups of keys - ones that have sharps and ones that have flats. They can't have both.

Finding Your "Relative Minor"

When a major key and a minor key share a key signature, we call them "relatives". So you can find a "relative minor" for any major key.

There's a pretty easy way to find the relative minor of any major key - just go down 3 half steps (or semi-tones) from the major key. For example, C major's relative minor is A minor. They both have no sharps or flats. G major's relative minor is E minor. They both have one sharp (F#).

On the piano. you can see this visually and just jump down the keys (remembering that F down to E is a semi-tone) to find your relative minor.

From C, you play B (1), Bb (2) and A (3). A is the third and the key signature name (A minor) and it has the same key signature as C major - no sharps and no flats.

Finding the relative minor on piano keys

Minor Key Signatures With Sharps

Just like C major in major keys, A minor is the only minor key that has no sharps or flats.

Here are all the minor keys that have sharps:

Minor Keys with Sharps (text version):

E minor (1 sharp: F#)
B minor (2 sharps: F#, C#)
F# minor (3 sharps: F#, C#, G#)
C# minor (4 sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#)
G# minor (5 sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#)
D# minor (6 sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#)
A# minor (7 sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#)

You can use the same saying to remember the order of sharps: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.

Here is what the key signatures look like on the staff:

Minor key signatures on treble clef and bass clef

Minor Key Signatures with Flats

Now for the minor keys with flats in them.

Minor Keys with Flats (text version):

D minor (1 flat: Bb)
G minor (2 flats: Bb, Eb)
C minor (3 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab)
F minor (4 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db)
Bb minor (5 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb)
Eb minor (6 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb)
Ab minor (7 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb)

The same "BEAD GCF" pattern works here too. (BEAD Go Catch Fish is a saying you can use also.)

Here is what they look like on the treble clef and bass clef:

How Minor Keys Are Written on the Staff

Minor keys are written exactly the same as major keys on the staff (treble clef and bass clef). So you'll find them on the same exact lines and spaces. They just have different names.

An Important Things to Know About Minor Keys

Alright, now for a little additional bonus that minor keys give us. (And this is usually when I get the "my brain hurts" look when teaching lessons.)

When playing in minor keys, there's something extra to keep in mind. There are actually three different types of minor scales:

Natural minor (follows the key signature exactly)
Harmonic minor (raises the 7th note by a half step)
Melodic minor (raises the 6th and 7th notes going up, but plays naturally going down)

So when playing chords in a minor key, like A minor for example, we can get a chord like E pop up quite a bit. The chord E has a G# which is not in A natural minor but is the raise 7th in A harmonic minor.

Many people love to play the harmonic minor scale over any other, basically because it sounds pretty cool.

If you are trying to figure out a key signature and you see a note pop up like this G# with no sharps or flats, that's a clue that you're reading music that's in a minor key and they are using this raised seventh from the harmonic minor scale.

Another Trick For My Chord Players

One additional way to work out a minor key from a major is this: work out what the 6th (vi) chord is in the major key. And that's the name of the minor key.

For example, F major. The 6th chord is Dm. D minor is the relative minor key and both F major and D minor have Bb in their key signature.

More Key Signature Resources

Minor keys are very important to know (so it's great that you're here) but if you feel like you could use a bit more information or a refresher on key signature basics, here are some other pages to help you:

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More pages that might help:

Key Signatures Bass Clef
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Key Signatures Free Video Lesson
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Minor Key Signatures Quiz (Name the Sharps or Flats)
Take the minor key signatures quiz and see if you can correctly guess the sharps or flats in the minor keys. Ready? Let's go!
Music Key Signatures
Find out which sharps or flats to play in music key signatures and where they are on the staff.
Key Signatures Quiz (On Treble Clef)
Test yourself with this key signatures quiz. You'll see the key signature on the treble clef and will need to name the key.
Music Theory Key Signatures (Circle of 5ths & 4ths)
Learn music theory key signatures by learning neat and easy patterns called the circle of 5ths and the circle of 4ths.
Minor Key Signatures Quiz (On Treble Clef)
Do you know your minor key signatures? Let's find out and see if you've got them down with this quiz using the treble clef.
Memorize Key Signatures
Need to memorize key signatures? This page shows you how to memorize the order of the keys, sharps and flats, and where they go.
Key Signatures Quiz (What Is The Key Signature?)
Do you know which sharps or flats belong to a key? Test yourself with this key signatures quiz and find out!